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USS Winslow (DD-53)
Encyclopedia
USS Winslow (Destroyer No. 53/DD-53) was an built for the United States Navy
prior to the American entry into World War I
. The ship was the second US Navy vessel named in honor of John Ancrum Winslow
, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate
commerce raider during the American Civil War
.
Winslow was laid down by William Cramp and Sons
of Philadelphia
in October 1913 and launched in February 1915. The ship was a little more than 305 ft (93 m) in length, just over 31 ft (9.4 m) abeam
, and had a standard displacement of 1050 LT (1,066.9 MT). She was armed with four 4 in (101.6 mm) guns and had eight 21 in (533.4 mm) torpedo tube
s. Winslow was powered by a pair of steam turbine
s that propelled her at up to 29 kn (35.3 mph; 56.8 km/h).
After her August 1915 commissioning, Winslow sailed off the east coast
and in the Caribbean
. She was one of seventeen destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket
in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Winslow was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea
out of Queenstown, Ireland. Winslow made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft.
Upon returning to the United States after the war, Winslow was placed in reduced commission in December 1919. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In November she dropped her name to free it for a new destroyer of the same name
, becoming known only as DD-53. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
in January 1936 and sold for scrapping
in June.
of Philadelphia
which laid down her keel on 1 October 1913. On 11 February 1915, Winslow was launched by sponsor Miss Natalie E. Winslow, grandniece of the ship's namesake, John Ancrum Winslow
. The ship was the second ship named for Winslow, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate
commerce raider during the American Civil War
. As built, the destroyer was 305 in 3 in (93.04 m) in length, 31 in 1 in (9.47 m) abeam
, and drew 10 foot. The ship had a standard displacement of 1050 LT (1,066.9 MT) and displaced 1171 LT (1,189.8 MT) when fully loaded.
Winslow had two Zoelly steam turbine
s that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning White-Forster boilers powered the engines, which could generate 17000 shp, moving the ship at up to 29 kn (35.3 mph; 56.8 km/h).
Winslows main battery
consisted of four 4 in (101.6 mm)/50 cal Mark 9 guns,The 50 denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its bore, or 200 inches (5.1 m) in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth US Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun. with each gun weighing in excess of 6100 lb (2,766.9 kg). The guns fired 33 lb (15 kg) armor-piercing
projectile
s at 2900 ft/s (883.9 m/s). At an elevation
of 20°, the guns had a range of 15920 yd (14,557.2 m).
Winslow was also equipped with eight 21 in (533.4 mm) torpedo tube
s. The General Board of the United States Navy
had called for two anti-aircraft guns for the O'Brien-class ships, as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mines. From sources, it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for Winslow or any of the other ships of the class.
, Winslow joined the 6th Division, Atlantic Fleet
Torpedo Flotilla. The destroyer participated in maneuvers in Cuba
n waters during the winter of 1915 and 1916 and, in the spring, began operations along the eastern seaboard. By October 1916, she was serving in coastal waters near Newport, Rhode Island
.
At 0530 on 8 October 1916, wireless
reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket
, off the eastern end of Long Island
. After an SOS
from the British steamer was received at about 1230, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves
ordered Winslow and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors.According to a report in The New York Times
on 9 October the other ships, in addition to Winslow, were the flotilla's destroyer tender
, , and fifteen other destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . A firsthand account of the events by a quartermaster from destroyer , published on 22 October, indicates that ship was present as well.
For the initial report, see:
For the account of McDougals quartermaster, see: The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 when the U-boat, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose
, had called at Newport on 7 October, the day before the attacks, to drop off a letter for Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
, the German Ambassador to the United States, and had exchanged courtesy visits with Admirals Albert Gleaves
and Austin M. Knight
before departing. was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship . Shortly after, U-53 stopped the British passenger ship . As Rose had done with three other ships U-53 had sunk earlier in the day,The other three ships were the British cargo ships West Point and , and the Norwegian tanker
. he gave passengers and crew aboard Blommersdijk and Stephano adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair. In total, 226 survivors from U-53s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla.
At the end of October, the warship went into the New York Navy Yard and remained there through the end of the year. In January 1917, she steamed south to Cuba, where she joined the rest of the Fleet to participate in annual winter maneuvers. Following the Fleet exercise, Winslow returned north to the Chesapeake
.
, the destroyer was anchored in the York River
near Yorktown, Virginia
. She had been there guarding the river mouth since February when American relations with Germany began to deteriorate as a result of the latter country's return to unrestricted submarine warfare. Soon after US Congress
declared war, Winslow moved north to the New York Navy Yard to prepare for duty overseas. Less than a month later, she moved to Boston from where she got underway for Europe on 7 May with , , , , and . After a 10-day passage, Winslow reported for duty at Queenstown, Ireland, on the 17th. On the 21st, she began patrolling the approaches to the British Isles
.
Winslow operated out of Queenstown for almost a year escorting convoys into and out of Queenstown and going to the assistance of ships attacked by U-boats. Just after midnight on 11 June, she spied her first submarine and rushed to the attack. Her target submerged, and the destroyer dropped a series of depth charge
s. She failed, however, to find any evidence supporting the success of her attack and resumed her patrol.
On 30 July, Winslow picked up the master
and 12 crewmen from SS Whitehall, torpedoed the day before by , and brought them safely into Queenstown. She sighted another U-boat off Queenstown on 16 August, but heavy weather covered the submarine's tracks when it submerged and Winslow made no attack.
Six weeks later, on 24 September, the warship rushed to the assistance of Henry Lippitt, an unarmed American schooner
being shelled by . When the destroyer reached the sailing vessel, she was in flames, and the U-boat had just submerged. Winslow dropped a depth charge barrage on what appeared to be the submarine's moving wake, but broke off the attack to assist the schooner's crew; all were saved, but Henry Lippitt was sunk.
During the remainder of her assignment at Queenstown, Winslow attacked two more submarines, the first on 11 October and the second on 3 January 1918. In both cases, she depth-charged oil slicks which appeared to originate from damaged, submerged U-boats. In neither case did she receive visible confirmation of a sinking; however, during the 3 January attack, one of her depth charges threw a large mass of dark liquid high in the air. From this description, it appears that her depth charge brought up fuel oil from what was believed to be . Unfortunately for Winslow, lack of definite proof kept her from being credited with a sinking.
At the beginning of April 1918, the destroyer was reassigned to the United States Naval Forces in France
. Operating from Brest
, she spent the remainder of the war escorting American troop transports into French ports. Although she engaged German submarines on at least seven different occasions, she did not score any confirmed successes. On 8 August, she came to the aid of , torpedoed in the Bay of Biscay
earlier the same day by .
On 5 September, she attacked the German submarine , which had just torpedoed U.S. Navy transport . Depth charges dropped by Winslow, , , and failed to sink the U-boat, but, combined with defensive efforts from Mount Vernon herself, helped prevent the submarine from launching a coup de grâce
against the former German liner. Mount Vernon safely made it back to Brest with the loss of 37 crewmen out of the 1,450 persons on board.
Winslow continued her patrols out of Brest through the end of hostilities on 11 November.
Following the signing of the Armistice on 11 November, which ended all fighting, Winslow remained in French waters. When President Woodrow Wilson
arrived at Brest on on 13 December, the destroyer served as part of that transport
's escort into the harbor. 15 days later, the warship departed France to return to the United States, arriving at New York on 12 January 1919.
After her return to the United States, Winslow resumed peacetime duty with the Atlantic Fleet. During May, she served as one of the rescue pickets stationed along the route across the Atlantic flown by three Navy NC-type
seaplane
s in the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic. After that, the destroyer returned to normal operations along the east coast and annual winter maneuvers in Cuban waters until placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia on 10 December 1919.
In July 1920, she was assigned the hull code of DD-53 under the US Navy's alphanumeric classification system. Winslow was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 5 June 1922. On 1 July 1933, she dropped the name Winslow to free it for a new destroyer of the same name
, becoming known only as DD-53. The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 7 January 1936, and, on 30 June, was sold for scrapping
.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
prior to the American entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The ship was the second US Navy vessel named in honor of John Ancrum Winslow
John Ancrum Winslow
Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War...
, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
commerce raider during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Winslow was laid down by William Cramp and Sons
William Cramp and Sons
thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...
of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in October 1913 and launched in February 1915. The ship was a little more than 305 ft (93 m) in length, just over 31 ft (9.4 m) abeam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
, and had a standard displacement of 1050 LT (1,066.9 MT). She was armed with four 4 in (101.6 mm) guns and had eight 21 in (533.4 mm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s. Winslow was powered by a pair of steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s that propelled her at up to 29 kn (35.3 mph; 56.8 km/h).
After her August 1915 commissioning, Winslow sailed off the east coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
and in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. She was one of seventeen destroyers sent out to rescue survivors from five victims of German submarine off the Lightship Nantucket
Lightship Nantucket
The Lightship Nantucket station was the name given to the lightvessel which marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals in Massachusetts. Several ships have been commissioned and served at the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket...
in October 1916. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Winslow was sent overseas to patrol the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
out of Queenstown, Ireland. Winslow made several unsuccessful attacks on U-boats, and rescued survivors of several ships sunk by the German craft.
Upon returning to the United States after the war, Winslow was placed in reduced commission in December 1919. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia in June 1922. In November she dropped her name to free it for a new destroyer of the same name
USS Winslow (DD-359)
The third USS Winslow was a in the United States Navy. She was named for Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow and Cameron McRae Winslow....
, becoming known only as DD-53. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
in January 1936 and sold for scrapping
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in June.
Design and construction
Winslow was authorized in March 1913 as the third of six ships of the , which was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911. Construction of the vessel was awarded to William Cramp and SonsWilliam Cramp and Sons
thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...
of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
which laid down her keel on 1 October 1913. On 11 February 1915, Winslow was launched by sponsor Miss Natalie E. Winslow, grandniece of the ship's namesake, John Ancrum Winslow
John Ancrum Winslow
Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War...
. The ship was the second ship named for Winslow, a US Navy officer notable for sinking the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
commerce raider during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. As built, the destroyer was 305 in 3 in (93.04 m) in length, 31 in 1 in (9.47 m) abeam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
, and drew 10 foot. The ship had a standard displacement of 1050 LT (1,066.9 MT) and displaced 1171 LT (1,189.8 MT) when fully loaded.
Winslow had two Zoelly steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s that drove her two screw propellers, and an additional pair triple-expansion steam engines, each connected to one of the propeller shafts, for cruising purposes. Four oil-burning White-Forster boilers powered the engines, which could generate 17000 shp, moving the ship at up to 29 kn (35.3 mph; 56.8 km/h).
Winslows main battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
consisted of four 4 in (101.6 mm)/50 cal Mark 9 guns,The 50 denotes the length of the gun barrels; in this case, the gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as its bore, or 200 inches (5.1 m) in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth US Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun. with each gun weighing in excess of 6100 lb (2,766.9 kg). The guns fired 33 lb (15 kg) armor-piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
projectile
Projectile
A projectile is any object projected into space by the exertion of a force. Although a thrown baseball is technically a projectile too, the term more commonly refers to a weapon....
s at 2900 ft/s (883.9 m/s). At an elevation
Elevation (ballistics)
In ballistics, the elevation is the angle between the horizontal plane and the direction of the barrel of a gun, mortar or heavy artillery. Originally, elevation was a linear measure of how high the gunners had to physically lift the muzzle of a gun up from the gun carriage to hit targets at a...
of 20°, the guns had a range of 15920 yd (14,557.2 m).
Winslow was also equipped with eight 21 in (533.4 mm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s. The General Board of the United States Navy
General Board of the United States Navy
The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...
had called for two anti-aircraft guns for the O'Brien-class ships, as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mines. From sources, it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for Winslow or any of the other ships of the class.
Pre-World War I
Winslow was commissioned into the United States Navy on 7 August 1915 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Neil E. Nichols. After trials off the upper east coastEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, Winslow joined the 6th Division, Atlantic Fleet
United States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
Torpedo Flotilla. The destroyer participated in maneuvers in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n waters during the winter of 1915 and 1916 and, in the spring, began operations along the eastern seaboard. By October 1916, she was serving in coastal waters near Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
.
At 0530 on 8 October 1916, wireless
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
reports came in of a German submarine stopping ships near the Lightship Nantucket
Lightship Nantucket
The Lightship Nantucket station was the name given to the lightvessel which marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals in Massachusetts. Several ships have been commissioned and served at the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket...
, off the eastern end of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. After an SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
from the British steamer was received at about 1230, Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves
Albert Gleaves
Albert Gleaves was an admiral in the United States Navy, also notable as a naval historian.-Biography:...
ordered Winslow and other destroyers at Newport to attend to survivors.According to a report in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
on 9 October the other ships, in addition to Winslow, were the flotilla's destroyer tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
, , and fifteen other destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . A firsthand account of the events by a quartermaster from destroyer , published on 22 October, indicates that ship was present as well.
For the initial report, see:
For the account of McDougals quartermaster, see: The American destroyers arrived on the scene about 1700 when the U-boat, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose
Hans Rose
Lieutenant Commander Hans Rose was one of the most successful and highly decorated German U-boat commander in the Kaiserliche Marine during .Rose was one of the most respected and brave U-boat commanders and famous for his humanity and fairness in battle...
, had called at Newport on 7 October, the day before the attacks, to drop off a letter for Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff
Johann Heinrich Graf von Bernstorff was a German politician and the ambassador to the United States and Mexico from 1908 to 1917.- Early life :...
, the German Ambassador to the United States, and had exchanged courtesy visits with Admirals Albert Gleaves
Albert Gleaves
Albert Gleaves was an admiral in the United States Navy, also notable as a naval historian.-Biography:...
and Austin M. Knight
Austin M. Knight
Austin Melvin Knight was an admiral in the United States Navy. He was commander in chief of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet from 1917 to 1918...
before departing. was in the process of stopping the Holland-America Line cargo ship . Shortly after, U-53 stopped the British passenger ship . As Rose had done with three other ships U-53 had sunk earlier in the day,The other three ships were the British cargo ships West Point and , and the Norwegian tanker
Tank ship
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
. he gave passengers and crew aboard Blommersdijk and Stephano adequate time to abandon the ships before sinking the pair. In total, 226 survivors from U-53s five victims were rescued by the destroyer flotilla.
At the end of October, the warship went into the New York Navy Yard and remained there through the end of the year. In January 1917, she steamed south to Cuba, where she joined the rest of the Fleet to participate in annual winter maneuvers. Following the Fleet exercise, Winslow returned north to the Chesapeake
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
.
World War I
When the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 entering World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the destroyer was anchored in the York River
York River (Virginia)
The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from at its head to near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area including portions of 17 counties of the coastal plain of Virginia north...
near Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
. She had been there guarding the river mouth since February when American relations with Germany began to deteriorate as a result of the latter country's return to unrestricted submarine warfare. Soon after US Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
declared war, Winslow moved north to the New York Navy Yard to prepare for duty overseas. Less than a month later, she moved to Boston from where she got underway for Europe on 7 May with , , , , and . After a 10-day passage, Winslow reported for duty at Queenstown, Ireland, on the 17th. On the 21st, she began patrolling the approaches to the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
.
Winslow operated out of Queenstown for almost a year escorting convoys into and out of Queenstown and going to the assistance of ships attacked by U-boats. Just after midnight on 11 June, she spied her first submarine and rushed to the attack. Her target submerged, and the destroyer dropped a series of depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s. She failed, however, to find any evidence supporting the success of her attack and resumed her patrol.
On 30 July, Winslow picked up the master
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
and 12 crewmen from SS Whitehall, torpedoed the day before by , and brought them safely into Queenstown. She sighted another U-boat off Queenstown on 16 August, but heavy weather covered the submarine's tracks when it submerged and Winslow made no attack.
Six weeks later, on 24 September, the warship rushed to the assistance of Henry Lippitt, an unarmed American schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
being shelled by . When the destroyer reached the sailing vessel, she was in flames, and the U-boat had just submerged. Winslow dropped a depth charge barrage on what appeared to be the submarine's moving wake, but broke off the attack to assist the schooner's crew; all were saved, but Henry Lippitt was sunk.
During the remainder of her assignment at Queenstown, Winslow attacked two more submarines, the first on 11 October and the second on 3 January 1918. In both cases, she depth-charged oil slicks which appeared to originate from damaged, submerged U-boats. In neither case did she receive visible confirmation of a sinking; however, during the 3 January attack, one of her depth charges threw a large mass of dark liquid high in the air. From this description, it appears that her depth charge brought up fuel oil from what was believed to be . Unfortunately for Winslow, lack of definite proof kept her from being credited with a sinking.
At the beginning of April 1918, the destroyer was reassigned to the United States Naval Forces in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Operating from Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, she spent the remainder of the war escorting American troop transports into French ports. Although she engaged German submarines on at least seven different occasions, she did not score any confirmed successes. On 8 August, she came to the aid of , torpedoed in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
earlier the same day by .
On 5 September, she attacked the German submarine , which had just torpedoed U.S. Navy transport . Depth charges dropped by Winslow, , , and failed to sink the U-boat, but, combined with defensive efforts from Mount Vernon herself, helped prevent the submarine from launching a coup de grâce
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
against the former German liner. Mount Vernon safely made it back to Brest with the loss of 37 crewmen out of the 1,450 persons on board.
Winslow continued her patrols out of Brest through the end of hostilities on 11 November.
Inter-war period
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
arrived at Brest on on 13 December, the destroyer served as part of that transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
's escort into the harbor. 15 days later, the warship departed France to return to the United States, arriving at New York on 12 January 1919.
After her return to the United States, Winslow resumed peacetime duty with the Atlantic Fleet. During May, she served as one of the rescue pickets stationed along the route across the Atlantic flown by three Navy NC-type
NC-4
The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat which was designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. In May 1919, the NC-4 became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, starting in the United States and making the crossing as far as Lisbon,...
seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
s in the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic. After that, the destroyer returned to normal operations along the east coast and annual winter maneuvers in Cuban waters until placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia on 10 December 1919.
In July 1920, she was assigned the hull code of DD-53 under the US Navy's alphanumeric classification system. Winslow was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 5 June 1922. On 1 July 1933, she dropped the name Winslow to free it for a new destroyer of the same name
USS Winslow (DD-359)
The third USS Winslow was a in the United States Navy. She was named for Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow and Cameron McRae Winslow....
, becoming known only as DD-53. The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 7 January 1936, and, on 30 June, was sold for scrapping
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
.